Hawks bring season to a close for Indians

Thursday

Feb 14, 2013 at 1:00 AMFeb 14, 2013 at 1:08 AM

Prairie Central defeats Pontiac in regional contest

Erich Murphy

A halftime talk about rebounding and an eight-point run in the middle of the third quarter provided the host Hawks with what they needed to advance to the final of the Class 3A Prairie Central Regional girls’ basketball tournament Wednesday night. “You just have to survive and advance this time of year,” PC head coach Tom Garriott said. It was survival as the Hawks managed to keep Pontiac in check after taking the lead for good three minutes into the second half. The Indians battled but did not have enough steam to get any closer than three points after PC’s 8-0 run. A key was rebounding. “We were getting beat 12-7 in rebounds. Rebounding was the challenge at halftime,” Garriott said. His team won the battle of the boards in the second half to outrebound Pontiac 22-19 for the game. Pontiac led 15-14 at the intermission after outscoring the Hawks 7-5 in a lackluster second quarter. Prairie Central came a bit warmer than the Indians in the third period with six points in the first two minutes for a 20-18 advantage. The first basket came on an offensive rebound by Laura Crane off a Gabby Weber miss. Kiana Coomber added two baskets to counter Ashley Harfst’s 3-pointer. PTHS tied it at 20-20 when Rachael Fearman cut to the basket on an inbound play with 5:26 to go in the quarter. Coomber, who scored eight straight points for the Hawks, hit from 15 feet to make it 22-20 on PC’s ensuing possession. The Hawks did not trail the rest of the night. Coomber converted a steal, Crane hit from 15 feet and Emily Shiflett drilled one from 15 to put Prairie Central ahead 28-20. The Hawks led 30-21 at the end of the third period after Coomber scored on a put-back with a minute left. Prairie Central’s biggest lead of the night was 32-21 when Weber scored on a put-back for PC’s third score off an offensive rebound in the half. Pontiac fought back to close the gap to within three with an 8-0 run of its own. It was mainly Kaela Hodges doing the damage. She scored inside, hit two free throws and added a put-back deuce in a two-minute span to make it 32-29 with five minutes left in the game. “Our defense is what got us through tonight,” Garriott said. “We locked down on defense better in the second half.” Hurting Pontiac’s cause in the first half was Hodges picking up two fouls in the first 4 1/2 minutes. She sat the rest of the half. But the Indians still held a one-point lead at the break after trailing 9-8 at the end of the first quarter. Both teams had difficulty finding their range from the field. “We weren’t hitting our shots,” Garriott said. “They packed in the paint and our shots weren’t falling.” Coomber led the Hawks (16-11) with 18 points. Crane added 8 while Weber and Shiflett had 5 points apiece. Cassie Somers chipped in 3 points. Harfst led Pontiac (19-8) with 12 points. Hodges finished with 7 while Kelsey Walsberg and Fearman scored 6 points apiece. Michaela Dohleman checked in with 1 point. PTHS head coach Mindy Whitehouse was not available for comment after the game. Prairie Central will take on Ottawa tonight for the title and spot at the Washington Sectional. Ottawa defeated LaSalle-Peru 60-31 in Wednesday’s first game.